Who are you and what do you do (in the band)?
I am Tamas Katai playing keyboards, programming drums and writing the poetic basis for Gire. Besides me we have Zoltan Konya on vocals and all guitars and Balazs Hermann playing the bass.
Where's the band from?
We are from a small town in the South-East of Hungary called Mako.
What means the band name?
I guess it is a word without any meaning, it stands just for itself, you know - l'art pour l'art.
What kind of music do you play? How would you describe your own music?
Well, it's a hard question for us as we play a strange kind of music that's hard to describe. I would call it avantgarde metal. We have death and black metal, extreme and thrash metal, darkwave and even some gothic and folkish stuff inside our music, futuristic and ancient elements hand in hand, I don't know just how it breeds...
Who're your major influences?
Too many I'm afraid. We've been listening to so many great and immortal artists so far from the most extreme underground noise/grind bands to classical music, freejazz, authentical folk.
Right now I'm listening to Focus from Cynic and it does inspire me a lot to creativity.
What inspires Gire`s music, lyrics?
I strongly believe that it's not only music that is able to inspire one to make music. I mean all branches of art are in connection to each other. And not only art but science as well.
For instance these days I am pretty much into mathematical relationships, it's very interesting to find the way from mathematics to music. Have you ever heard music based exclusively on algebraical functions? It's like fractals in an auditive point of view. I find it exciting. But you can choose many paths to create something new, I personally use my own feelings mostly, I think that's a common thing.
And talking about the lyrical side, it's just the same.
How is the song-writing going? What is the song-writing process like?
I really cannot answer to this question as it's always different. But one thing is for sure - we try to sew music and the poems up, it is natural that they are unable to get alive without the other one, like Siamese twins, you know.
What's your local scene like? How often do you have opportunity to play live?
There are some bands here like The Garde, kind of so-called alternative rock/pop, they have been active for a long time. Then a Nightwish-like act Overdream and Athame playing raw black metal, Evil's Tears from the gothic metal scene and my other activties besides Gire: Thy Catafalque (avantgarde black metal), Darklight (experimental stuff) and Towards Rusted Soil (grotesque death/black). And there is a group named Sun Valley, halfly from Mako. They play a Kyuss-like stone rock, I find them pretty interesting. Oh yes, and there is Banshee, very young band making just their first demo these days in our rehearsal room.
How often do we play live? Well, really not often, we have had five or six performances this year so far. We had 55-56 concerts since 1995 which is a shame anyway but at least all the gigs have their speciality which is important I guess.
If you could play a gig with 3 other bands, who would it be?
Let me say My Dying Bride, Anathema and Carcass (RIP).
What's your best gig memory?
Methinks our best gig ever was in our hometown last year in a two-days festival. Huge stage, heavy lights, great sound and many-many friends all around.
What's your worst?
It was deifinitely at Musicbox in Csongrad in 1998. It was total chaos. Our first gig without drummer. Drumsamples came from CD and it was skipping during the songs. Yes, it was shameful, haha. But the sound was even more horrible, there wasn't control at all, we simply couldn't hear anything except a massive noise. We won't ever come back to that place again.
What are you plans for the future?
Write songs of ourselves, record them and play some cathartic gigs.
What song of yours should people listen to before any other?
Do you mean what's my fave song of ourselves? Well, right now it's Eocen Expressz.
If a label said they'd sign you for a 10 album, multi-million Ł deal, providing you got rid of one of your members (you can choose!), would you do it?
Come on, what a question! You know how should an underground band answer to this. And we are an underground band.
What's your favourite album of all time, and why?
There are some albums I love the most among my favourite ones. Right now I'd say Turn loose the swans from My Dying Bride, for it's the most beautiful music I've ever heard in my life.
What was the main reason you became a musician?
It was a Metallica/Megadeth gig in Budapest in 1993.
What's the first word that comes to mind when you see the word MANOWAR!
Pose.
What one location in the world would you love to play a gig at?
I've never thought about that, it's not too important for me. But it would be interesting to play in a real theatre for an audience sitting and watching us. It would be a precious experiment.
Pls tell us a few words about the other members of the band, how would you describe them?
I can't do it to you, they are my friends, that's all I know.
Tell us 3 good reasons why people should listen to you?
Just listen to what your heart needs, right now I'd like to listen to The 3rd and the Mortal and I'm going to.
Any message for your fans and the UM masses?
Thanks a lot for reading this stuff and gratitude to you to be interested in Gire.
Good luck for you in the future! Stay alive!
http://www.scythe.hu/gire/
I am Tamas Katai playing keyboards, programming drums and writing the poetic basis for Gire. Besides me we have Zoltan Konya on vocals and all guitars and Balazs Hermann playing the bass.
Where's the band from?
We are from a small town in the South-East of Hungary called Mako.
What means the band name?
I guess it is a word without any meaning, it stands just for itself, you know - l'art pour l'art.
What kind of music do you play? How would you describe your own music?
Well, it's a hard question for us as we play a strange kind of music that's hard to describe. I would call it avantgarde metal. We have death and black metal, extreme and thrash metal, darkwave and even some gothic and folkish stuff inside our music, futuristic and ancient elements hand in hand, I don't know just how it breeds...
Who're your major influences?
Too many I'm afraid. We've been listening to so many great and immortal artists so far from the most extreme underground noise/grind bands to classical music, freejazz, authentical folk.
Right now I'm listening to Focus from Cynic and it does inspire me a lot to creativity.
What inspires Gire`s music, lyrics?
I strongly believe that it's not only music that is able to inspire one to make music. I mean all branches of art are in connection to each other. And not only art but science as well.
For instance these days I am pretty much into mathematical relationships, it's very interesting to find the way from mathematics to music. Have you ever heard music based exclusively on algebraical functions? It's like fractals in an auditive point of view. I find it exciting. But you can choose many paths to create something new, I personally use my own feelings mostly, I think that's a common thing.
And talking about the lyrical side, it's just the same.
How is the song-writing going? What is the song-writing process like?
I really cannot answer to this question as it's always different. But one thing is for sure - we try to sew music and the poems up, it is natural that they are unable to get alive without the other one, like Siamese twins, you know.
What's your local scene like? How often do you have opportunity to play live?
There are some bands here like The Garde, kind of so-called alternative rock/pop, they have been active for a long time. Then a Nightwish-like act Overdream and Athame playing raw black metal, Evil's Tears from the gothic metal scene and my other activties besides Gire: Thy Catafalque (avantgarde black metal), Darklight (experimental stuff) and Towards Rusted Soil (grotesque death/black). And there is a group named Sun Valley, halfly from Mako. They play a Kyuss-like stone rock, I find them pretty interesting. Oh yes, and there is Banshee, very young band making just their first demo these days in our rehearsal room.
How often do we play live? Well, really not often, we have had five or six performances this year so far. We had 55-56 concerts since 1995 which is a shame anyway but at least all the gigs have their speciality which is important I guess.
If you could play a gig with 3 other bands, who would it be?
Let me say My Dying Bride, Anathema and Carcass (RIP).
What's your best gig memory?
Methinks our best gig ever was in our hometown last year in a two-days festival. Huge stage, heavy lights, great sound and many-many friends all around.
What's your worst?
It was deifinitely at Musicbox in Csongrad in 1998. It was total chaos. Our first gig without drummer. Drumsamples came from CD and it was skipping during the songs. Yes, it was shameful, haha. But the sound was even more horrible, there wasn't control at all, we simply couldn't hear anything except a massive noise. We won't ever come back to that place again.
What are you plans for the future?
Write songs of ourselves, record them and play some cathartic gigs.
What song of yours should people listen to before any other?
Do you mean what's my fave song of ourselves? Well, right now it's Eocen Expressz.
If a label said they'd sign you for a 10 album, multi-million Ł deal, providing you got rid of one of your members (you can choose!), would you do it?
Come on, what a question! You know how should an underground band answer to this. And we are an underground band.
What's your favourite album of all time, and why?
There are some albums I love the most among my favourite ones. Right now I'd say Turn loose the swans from My Dying Bride, for it's the most beautiful music I've ever heard in my life.
What was the main reason you became a musician?
It was a Metallica/Megadeth gig in Budapest in 1993.
What's the first word that comes to mind when you see the word MANOWAR!
Pose.
What one location in the world would you love to play a gig at?
I've never thought about that, it's not too important for me. But it would be interesting to play in a real theatre for an audience sitting and watching us. It would be a precious experiment.
Pls tell us a few words about the other members of the band, how would you describe them?
I can't do it to you, they are my friends, that's all I know.
Tell us 3 good reasons why people should listen to you?
Just listen to what your heart needs, right now I'd like to listen to The 3rd and the Mortal and I'm going to.
Any message for your fans and the UM masses?
Thanks a lot for reading this stuff and gratitude to you to be interested in Gire.
Good luck for you in the future! Stay alive!
http://www.scythe.hu/gire/
